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Jewiss wins from back of the grid in Ford EcoBoost-powered thriller

Simmons secures second place after thrilling battle with Jewiss for the win.

Hauger forced to settle for third due to time penalty, despite finishing first on the road.

29 APRIL, 2018 – Kiern Jewiss took victory at Donington Park in round five of the F4 British Championship certified by FIA – powered by Ford EcoBoost after pulling off what will be remembered as one of the finest drives in the history of the series.

Starting from the last row of the grid the Double R racer stormed his way up to sixth by the end of the opening lap.

Jewiss had plenty more in store for spectators, lapping quicker than any other driver and by lap six was up to fourth and in the hunt for the lead which was occupied by Dennis Hauger. The Arden driver having boldly run around the outside of poleman Hampus Ericsson (Fortec Motorsports) at turn one to take charge of the race.

Ericsson soon had to settle for third behind another fast-starter in the form of Ayrton Simmons who had wasted no time in making his way from sixth on the grid to fight for the win. The JHR Developments ace dived down the inside of Ericsson into Redgate with a perfectly judged late braking manoeuvre on lap six.

Three laps later it was Jewiss’ turn to try to pass Ericsson and he did so in spectacular fashion with a move that’s an early contender for overtake of the season. It saw him run around the outside of Ericsson through the long right hander at Coppice, Jewiss bravely hanging on at the limit of adhesion. The race would later become even more frustrating for Ericsson, with an off at Roberts just two laps from the end.

Jewiss’ third place soon turned into second after on-track leader Hauger received a five second time penalty for exceeding track limits. Hauger was unable to build a gap over the hard charging Simmons and Jewiss behind and the stage was set for a thrilling finale. It didn’t disappoint, as the pair jostled for position. Simmons defending brilliantly.

MB Partners and FM Conway backed Jewiss was relentless however. On lap 14 he got a better exit out of Roberts onto Wheatcroft Straight to power past Simmons on the run down to Redgate. From then on he kept Hauger in his sights and Simmons at bay to secure a memorable maiden British F4 win.

“This win feels amazing,” said an ecstatic Jewiss. “I couldn’t have done any of this without Double R Racing. Big thanks to them, MB Partners, FM Conway and HCL.

“We’re really good at getting the tyres up to temperature so we can perform really well from the outset.

“I got as much heat in my tyres as I could for the opening lap and pushed as hard as possible. I threw caution to the wind and went all the way around the outside at the start to make up places.

“I realised Ericsson wasn’t carrying as much speed as me through Coppice so kept my foot in and went on the outside. I just had enough momentum to get by him before the chicane at the end of the straight.

“I didn’t know who was in the lead. My pitboard was showing P2, but I didn’t know whether it was Ayrton or Dennis who had the penalty. Then once I overtook Ayrton the board showed P1 so there was plenty of emotion going on in the cockpit.

“I tried to get Simmons at the Craner Curves, but waited patiently, got a better drive out of the last chicane and took my opportunity to pass him.

“For the next race everyone is going to be on scrubbed tyres so it’s going to be about getting the moves done early and then looking after tyres at the end. It will be easy to make mistakes and it will be all about avoiding them.”

Added Simmons: “It was a pretty hectic race starting from sixth and it’s great to get a podium.

“At the start of the weekend we weren’t sure about our pace. Qualifying P10 wasn’t ideal, but we’ve improved during the weekend and we’ve now shown that in the dry we’ve got excellent pace.

“We were four or five tenths off Jewiss in free practice and now we’re able to match him so that just shows how far we have come.

“It’s really nice to get this podium on my birthday. I went from sixth to third on the first lap and to be honest I wanted to get past Ericsson as well because I had thoughts of Senna’s amazing opening lap at Donington, even though that was in the wet. I wanted to emulate his heroics.”

Commented Hauger: “It’s really sad to lose out on a win in this way, but I’m proud of the fact that I finished first on track. Hopefully we can get the win in race three.

“The start was really good. I discussed it with the team beforehand and we had a plan going into the race. It was great to pull it off.

“I pushed on track while not taking any risks out front. Fifteen points from this race is good for the championship, but I’m disappointed because it could have been more.”

Behind the leading trio finished Jack Doohan (Arden) and yesterday’s race winner Johnathan Hoggard (Fortec Motorsports). The latter stealing fifth from Sebastian Priaulx (Arden) with a move at Redgate on the final lap.

Meanwhile, Double R Racing had another driver fly up the order with Paavo Tonteri performing brilliantly from last on the grid to finish seventh and ahead of fellow Finn Patrik Pasma by just 0.001s. Although Pasma finished sixth on the road, he dropped back to eighth as a result of a five second penalty for exceeding track limits.